Meant to Crash | ✓

Chapter Twenty-Four

When Sebastian said we had a little problem, he wasn't joking about the little part. The problem, which wasn't really much of a problem to me anyway, was that Brendon's only son wanted to attend the party, but Brendon himself couldn't take him. Because of that, Sebastian was left with the task of taking his nephew along with us.

"I wanted to get some alone time with you on the boat," he said moments into the call. "So, we're going to have to drop that little squirt off with someone once we get there at some point. There's no way I'm going to be stuck with him the whole night. The entire family is going to be there. No worries there."

"I don't mind."

"Well I do."

"What exactly is it you want to do on the boat that has you so eager?"

"Oh, you're into phone sex suddenly?"

"I wasn't aware it had to get explicit." My face felt alarmingly warm all of a sudden. Fanning myself, I let out a pint up sigh. "Also who said I'd let you do anything to me?"

"Let me?" he puffed. "You'll be begging for it."

"You sound confident."

"Always."

"You shouldn't be," I mused and I snuck a glance at the clock, wishing for it to go faster. "How soon are you going to be here?"

"Not soon enough," he sighed, "I've got work to finish up."

"It's a weekend. You're not at the office."

"I bring work home sometimes."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because my lazy ass didn't finish it at work." He laughed. "Being related to my boss makes me get away with a lot more than other workers."

"Aren't you lucky." I sat down at the edge of my bed. "I don't want to distract you any longer."

"You aren't a distraction. I'm the one that called you." There was a pause. "I could've texted you the update about our new addition, but I wanted to hear your voice. I like hearing it."

My heart fluttered, relentlessly beating at my ribcage like a manic butterfly.

"Aww."

"And I can't wait to hear you whisper my name."

"Of course, you had to ruin the moment," I puffed.

"Hey, I can't be gushy the entire time. I'll lose my edge."

"Get your work done, edgelord," I said without saying a goodbye and hung up. In seconds, he called me up again, but I ignored his call. Sending a text, I said I needed to use the restroom as an excuse to avoid his next call.

****

Timothy Lockhart, Brendon's son, was seven years old and quite possibly the cutest kid in a suit I'd ever seen. He had on a matching suit to Sebastian, only difference being that Sebastian's was black lined with blue and not entirely black like Timothy's.

"Well aren't you a dapper young fellow," I said after getting in the car. "I'm pleased to meet you little man."

He scrunched up his nose. "You smell funny."

"Timothy!" Sebastian roared.

"What? It didn't smell like that until she got into the car."

I awkwardly laughed off the remark.

"Cute kid." I murmured, "Does he come with an off switch?"

"Sadly, no, but he does accept bribes in exchange for momentary silence." He looked at the kid from his rear-view mirror. "Hey, Timmy, you want a blue bill?"

"Y-you aren't seriously giving him a hundred dollars." I stammered. "You're kidding...right?"

Pulling out his wallet, Sebastian grabbed a bill, not even looking at it, and handed it over to the little guy. The boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Alright, now, you have to be nice to Maddison, okay? No more comments about how she smells."

"Okay," he said adamantly. "You want me to lie."

"I want you to be kind."

"I've never seen her before," Timothy leaned in his seat, peering at me. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"She works for me at Lockhart Inc." he answered, veering my heart in the wrong direction. The little boy was seven, why did I care if he knew about our relationship status or not? I didn't know why, but the feeling still stung, knowing that he couldn't even lie to a little kid about who I was to him.

Slinking back into my seat, I waited for the car to get to its destination. It was only a few minutes into the ride, and I knew I would be dreading it.